Healing from the Ground Up

All posts tagged: spleen qi

It’s probably no surprise that I prefer tea over tinctures. Yet, I often use tinctures for both myself and for others because of their ease of use. There’s no waiting for a pot of tea to brew, nor do you have to take cups of tea to work with you! Tinctures have many benefits beyond these; the alcohol is a perfect medium to extract certain chemical constituents to create a concentrated herbal extract with a fairly long shelf life. Yesterday on the Summer Solstice, I used Chinese herbal formulating principles to create a Harmonizing tincture blend to soothe my acute upset stomach.

Astragalus membranaceaus is a native to China and other areas of Asia and is a member of the Fabaceae (pea) family. It tastes sweet, starchy, slightly warm and moist. According to Lesley Tierra, astragalus has adaptogenic, diuretic, antiviral, cardiotonic, antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties. Astragalus has gotten a lot of press as an adapotgen and for helping people with cancer and rightfully so as it “…helps prevent immuosuppression caused by chemotherapy and has tumor-inhibiting activity”(Winston, 149). It is a personal favorite of mine for preventing and/or treating regular-old colds and related infections. The Chinese name of this herb is huang qi, huang meaning yellow (the color of the root) and qi meaning leader, as it is considered a “leader” among the tonics in the Chinese pharmacopeia because it can be used by a wider range of people than other tonics like ginseng. Astragalus strengthens spleen qi to aid weak digestion, nausea and vomiting, bloating, assimilation and lack of appetite. It also bolsters wei qi (protective energy or immunity) and lung qi. Not surprisingly, astragalus has been …